Fast model predictive control and its application to energy management of hybrid electric vehicles

Modern day automotive engineers are required, among other objectives, to maximize fuel economy and to sustain a reasonably responsive car (i.e. maintain driveability) while still meeting increasingly stringent emission constraints mandated by the government. Towards this end, Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) have been introduced which typically combine two different sources of power, the traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) with one (or more) electric motors, mainly for optimising fuel efficiency and reducing Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and greenhouse gases (GHG) (Fuhs, 2008).